Analysis of Ohio Nurses' Voting Behaviors 2020-2023.

This study provides baseline data for voting patterns and the political affiliation of licensed nurses (licensed practical nurses [LPNs], registered nurses [RNs], and advanced practice registered nurses [APRNs]) in Ohio for the November 2020, 2022, and 2023 general elections. Using two public databases (licensed nurses and registered voters), the findings for 73.7% of all licensed nurses registered to vote are reported, including 18,894 APRNs, 30,731 LPNs, and 137,353 RNs.

Call to action: Blueprint for change in acute and critical care nursing.

Herein, we propose a blueprint for action to completely measure and recognize the care provided by acute and critical care nurses to be incorporated into policy that shapes and supports practice. We address the nature of nurses' work by identifying nine practice domains, hospital practice environment assumptions, and expected outcomes. Nurses' work, as a cross-system process, needs to be included in hospital-based core measures to fully reflect nurses' impact on patient care.

Strengthening Nurses' Influence in Health Policy.

With nurses at the forefront of health care, the need for their active engagement in policy has never been more urgent. Numerous national and global reports call for nurses to lead policy change. The Patton Zalon Ludwick Policy Assessment Framework is intended to answer this call by serving as a foundational guide to nurses' self-assessment of their health policy actions.

Advance care planning at life milestones.

Much progress has been made in advance care planning (ACP), especially related to end of life and palliative care. These advances have moved thinking about ACP from a checklist approach to an upstream recognition that ACP is an iterative process that should begin early in adulthood and be revisited with each milestone or life-changing event. It is recognized that there are many stages and milestones in adult life that contribute to changing loci of responsibility and life goals.

Nurse competencies for transitions of care: Implications for education and practice.

Although there are a number of transitions of care initiatives that address specific needs as patients move across healthcare settings, adverse events still occur during handoffs. Transitions of care create periods of vulnerability for populations with complex needs that include communication gaps, medication changes, and poorly coordinated treatment plans, often without involving patients and their families. This paper outlines what nurses need to know to provide for safe transitions of care across the healthcare continuum.

A Concept Analysis of Transitions of Care for Population Health.

Background: Compelling evidence indicates that gaps in quality, safety, and experiences occur when patients encounter transitions across the care continuum. Differences in the organization of healthcare services as well as disparities in health across the globe, may have a unique impact on processes associated with transitions of care for client populations.

Purpose: Increased attention to the concept of transitions of care has resulted in disparate meanings and lack of clarity about its nature.

Hospitalized Older Adults With Established Delirium: Recognition, Documentation, and Reporting.

Delirium, a life-threatening complication for hospitalized older adults associated with adverse outcomes, is often underrecognized and underreported. The purpose of the current study was to analyze delirium documentation for hospitalized older adults. Charts of 34 patients, aged 71 and older with documented delirium and referral to a Hospital Elder Life Program, were reviewed.

Mild, moderate, and severe pain in patients recovering from major abdominal surgery.

Pain interferes with various activities, such as coughing, deep breathing, and ambulation, designed to promote recovery and prevent complications after surgery. Determining appropriate cutpoints for mild, moderate, and severe pain is important, because specific interventions may be based on this classification. The purpose of this research was to determine optimal cutpoints for postoperative patients based on their worst and average pain during hospitalization and after discharge to home, and whether the optimal cutpoints distinguished patients with mild, moderate, or severe pain regarding patient outcomes.

ANF scholars (1955-2012): stepping stones to a nursing research career.

The American Nurses Foundation (ANF) grant program has been successful in funding nurse researchers' initial research studies for nearly 60 years. (ANF, 2013). From 1955-2012, over 1,000 ANF scholars have been identified through this historical nursing research study.

Using PDAs to detect cognitive change in the hospitalized elderly patient.

The Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) program is designed to prevent delirium and cognitive decline in the hospitalized elderly patient. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) were trialed in collecting assessment data for the HELP program. Data for a mental status assessment (Mini-Mental Status Examination), delirium assessment (Confusion Assessment Method), and a depression screen for 352 patients enrolled over a 4-month period were collected.

A volunteer-based Hospital Elder Life Program to reduce delirium.

A community hospital with nearly 50% of its admitted patients 70 years or older adapted the well-established Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP). The primary adaptation entailed an enhanced participation of trained volunteers in HELP interventions designed to prevent and reduce delirium. Integral program elements include detailed volunteer training, required demonstration of competencies, and regular evaluation and feedback of volunteers provided by program staff.

Promoting evidence-based dysphagia assessment and management by nurses.

The Ottawa Model of Research Use guided the Hospital Elder Life Program nursing staff at a community hospital in promoting dysphagia assessment and management. The effect of an educational program and educational outreach on nurses' knowledge retention and nurse-initiated speech language pathology (SLP) referrals were assessed. The sample consisted of 122 nurses.

Merging time zones: promoting international communication through videoconferencing.

Nursing is viewed increasingly from an international perspective. Communication between nurses from different countries and cultures is becoming an important feature of nurses' education as well as their professional lives. While it is often not possible for nurse educators and students to visit their counterparts in other countries, it is possible for them to engage in personal contact and discussion through videoconferencing technology.

Using technology to build community in professional associations.

Professional associations increasingly rely on technology to convene members in the conduct of their business. Principles of adult education can be employed to facilitate the transition to the use of innovative technology. Such innovation can facilitate an association's work in advancing policy and professional practice.

The right to pain treatment: a reminder for nurses.

Critical care units are frequently the setting for the delivery of end-of-life care. A case study describing pain management for a terminally ill woman in an intensive care unit is used to illustrate conflicts that may be experienced by critical care nurses. The application of standards of professional organizations and regulatory bodies is described, as well as the ethical principles of autonomy, veracity, beneficence, nonmalfeasance, and double effect.

Using and understanding factor analysis: the Brief Pain inventory.

Factor analysis is useful for examining relationships among large numbers of variables and understanding the conceptual structure of an instrument The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), which measures pain in terms of its severity and interference with function, has been widely used with cancer patients. A secondary analysis of BPI data in a sample of postoperative patients is used to illustrate the factor analytic method. The resulting two-factor solution of pain's interference with function and pain severity are discussed by Margarete Lieb Zalon in relation to the validity of the BPI along with considerations in using the instrument with surgical patients.

Correlates of recovery among older adults after major abdominal surgery.

Background: Little research has examined the recovery patterns of older adults who have had major abdominal surgery.

Objective: To determine whether pain, depression, and fatigue are significant factors in the return of older adults who had major abdominal surgery to functional status and self-perception of recovery in the first 3 months after discharge from the hospital.

Methods: A correlational predictive study involved adults 60 years of age or older who had undergone major abdominal surgery.

Nurses' assessment of postoperative patients' pain.

This study examined nurses' assessments of pain in postoperative patients. Subjects were 119 registered nurses and 119 abdominal surgery patients at two community and two university hospitals. Patients completed a visual analogue scale (VAS) when they indicated the presence of pain.